Odisha on Tuesday conducted mock drill simultaneously across the state to ensure it is fully prepared to deal with disasters like flood and cyclone.
The mock drill conducted by Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) on settings akin to simulated situation of flood and cyclone was held at 552 Multi-purpose Cyclone Shelters and 288 Multi-purpose Flood Shelters constructed in state’s 25 districts, official sources said.
Addressing the state-level natural calamity preparedness meeting in Bhubaneswar chief minister Naveen Patnaik asked the officials remain prepared for possible disasters as monsoon has already hit the state.
As a part of the exercise, dummy warning message was sent by local India Meteorological centre at the state capital to the State emergency operations centre (State EOC) functioning in the office of the Special Relief Commissioner at Bhubaneswar.
The dummy message was in turn forwarded by the State EOC to all the district offices and others. On receipt of the dummy message , the district emergency operations centres immediately circulated the same among other offices at the district level, sub-ordinate offices and to the multi-purpose cyclone and flood shelter management and maintenance committees.
Then mock exercise on the line of action to be taken in case of a real disaster were conducted at different levels.
The drill at the shelter level was participated by the members of the multi-purpose cyclone and flood shelter management and maintenance committees and the community members.
The districts in which multi-purpose cyclone or flood shelters available are Balasore, Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Puri, Khordha, Nayagarh, Ganjam, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Subarnapur, Gajapati, Koraput, Nuapada, Malkangiri, Kalahandi, Boudha, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Jharsuguda and Keonjhar.
The taskforces constituted at the shelter level displayed the search & rescue and first-aid techniques. The emergency equipment like tower light, mechanized cutter, generator, stretcher and megaphone supplied to the shelters were test operated during the mock drill.
Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Fire Service personnel also took part in the drill and supervised the mock exercises by the taskforce members.
Representatives from the block and tahasil level administration, local voluntary organisations, members of panchayati raj Institutions and common people attended the mock drills.
This apart, meetings were conducted at different levels in which discussions on management of disasters was held. Awareness rally was also taken up at many places.
Under the guidance of the Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi, the mock drills were coordinated at the state level by the officers of the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority and the office of the Special Relief Commissioner.
Similarly, the emergency wing of the Collectorates organized the drill in the district. The collectors, additional district magistrates, sub-collector, district emergency officer and other senior officers attended and observed the mock drill at different levels. This drill will certainly help efficient management of disasters at different levels.
Odisha.in